The Adventures of Tintin

This is probably the most gorgeous CG animated movie and along with Avatar the most visually stunning 3D movie to date. The colors are beautiful, the motion capture generally convincing, the mix of cartoon styling with photorealism just right, and Spielberg's characteristically great camerawork is even better without a physical set holding it down.

Unfortunately the dialog is merely serviceable (especially for Tintin, whose every line is a comic book speech bubble suggesting what will transpire next), the gags are rarely funny, the constant, seemingly random action scenes become tiresome and the story is mostly void of both intrigue and emotion.

The greatest asset of the movie - the lack of physical restraints - is also at times a weakness, when the film occasionally goes to an almost Looney Tunes extreme of physics-defying action that just doesn't mesh with the pseudo-realistic art and animation.

For those fine with a meaningless animated action romp or willing to appreciate a film purely on an aesthetic level it's probably still worth watching. If that is the case, then by all means take the opportunity to watch it in the cinema and in 3D.

Yeah it had become pretty clear already that our tastes in movies tend to differ. I'd be willing to bet you'll like the movie actually.

Interesting mention of Rango, as similarly to Tintin it got a pretty positive critical reaction that I just didn't agree with at all.

From what I noticed of the score over the high-amplitude sound effects it was vintage Williams. One of the extended action cues was strangely reminiscent of "The Battle of Yavin" even. I'll be curious to hear the album release.

Unfortunately the dialog is merely serviceable (especially for Tintin, whose every line is a comic book speech bubble suggesting what will transpire next), the gags are rarely funny, the constant, seemingly random action scenes become tiresome and the story is mostly void of both intrigue and emotion.

That sums it up pretty well for me. I think I'm even less forgiving though.I found myself bored within 10 minutes at this movie. While pretty, it was completely lacking of any heart or soul. It was nothing more than "let's make a lot of pretty action-adventure scenes strung together with dull dialog!" Unfortunately, when I have absolutely no attachment to the characters at all, and whenever the overarching mystery is not very interesting or well developed, some fast paced action scenes can still put me to sleep. The hour and a half running time felt like 3 hour affair. Horribly horribly disappointing.

I did not see Tintin in 3D, so I cannot make any comments on that aspect. I figured the 3D would probably just disappoint after the sheer beauty of Hugo.

While I think the CG motion capture did quite well, I have to agree with Adam on his opinion of the movie. As a whole and more of a Tintin fan myself... not quite satisfied with how they mashed up Crab With The Golden Claws/Secret of the Unicorn/Red Rackham's Treasure. BUT it does inject some nice action set pieces so it's a bit more cinematic. I think they said they would do The Calculus Affair next for a sequel.

I like how the beginning of the film in Tintin's apartment had a lot of stuff to watch out for, for shoutouts to the solo stuff he did before meeting Haddock. If I do pick this up on blu-ray later (I probably will) that'll be something to put on slo-mo to catch it all.

I've been looking forward to this movie for most of the year, and was amazed at the talent amassed behind it (Spielberg, Moffett, Wright, and Andy Serkis as well!) My brother was skeptical about how they treated the source material, but our fears were allayed when my family saw it on Christmas Day.

Even though there were only 9 people in the theater at the 4pm showing (a fact that motion capture/Tintin/American haters love to point out...) it was an amazing time. The intro is amazing with plenty of fanservice for longtime fans (notice the airline destinations?) and great animation!

My favorite part was the Unicorn flashback, I had heard that it rivaled anything in the Pirates of the Caribbean series and was naturally excited at that idea. I wouldn't go that so far as to say it is totally superior, but it was a lot of fun to watch in its over-the-top glory (the two ships being tangled together!)

Lastly, Andy Serkis continues to show his brilliance at mo-cap, perfectly capturing Captain Archibald Haddock and his many hilarious mannerisms. The best part was at the film's ending and its juxtaposition of treasure and barnacles. Heh heh.

We all thought it was a very solid movie, even my mom who isn't really a Tintin fan (supposedly more for young boys than girls). Looking forward to the sequel, and hoping it will be based on more of Red Rackham's Treasure.

Too bad about John Williams' score, which I found to be merely average. Haven't really liked a score of his since Revenge of the Sith, and Tintin isn't an exception.

That comment I made about Tintin's trailer being the cinematic equivalent of "Uncharted"? Well, I had no idea that the entire movie would be like a TOTAL REHASH OF UNCHARTED 3. The MacGuffin first revealed in Europe? Check. A sinking ship? Yup. A plane chase across a desert? Getting stranded in said desert? Hallucinatory episodes? A chase through an Arabian city? All there and accounted for.

It's a decent pulp action adventure flick on its own terms, but I wonder if I might have enjoyed it more had I experienced it pre U3. As is, I couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu, and I admit I was getting restless as the movie was going through its repetitive motions. At least with Uncharted, I actually got to play the damned thing.

I had no idea that the entire movie would be like a TOTAL REHASH OF UNCHARTED 3.

I can't claim to know the specifics but given that most of the movie was based on comic strips written several decades ago I wonder if that's the right perspective to take.

Key word being "like," it was more of a facetious observation than anything else. Still, comics notwithstanding, it's hard to ignore just how remarkably similar the movie's action beats, cinematography, and overall direction are to that of Uncharted's.